Mail-box.



No. 638,622. Patented Dec. 5, I899. B. F. &. A. C. BROCKMEYER.

MAIL BOX.

(Application flied Aug. 18, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

N HQNE N hk THE NORRIS PEYEIIS co. Pnmaumo. wAsmNn'roN. o. c.

No. 638,622. Patented m. 5, I899.

' B. F. &. A. C. BROGKMEYER.

MAIL BOX. (Application filed Aug. 18, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet'2.

antiwar 6T roe fi $10 nmun WWW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAJMINE F. BROOKMEYER AND ALBERT C. BROCKMEYER, OF ST. LOUIS,

MISSOURI.

MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,622, dated December5, 1899.

Application filed August 18, 1899. Serial No- 727,622. (No model.) 7

T0 aZZ' whom, it nutty concern.-

Be it known that we, BENJAMINE F. BROOK- MEYER and ALBERT O. BROOKMEYER,citizens of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, in theState of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMail- Boxes,of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, andconvenient mailbox for public use, which box will be absolutelystorrnproof at all times, including the period during which its contentsare discharged into the collection bag or box.

A further object of our invention is to construct a mail-box wherein theoperations required in delivering mail-matter into said box anddischarging it therefrom are greatly fa-. cilitated.

Our invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fullydescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I is a perspective view of our improved mail-box. Fig. II is avertical sectional view taken approximately on the line II II, Fig. I.Fig. III is a vertical sectional view through the center of the box andshowing the inner dump-box in position assumed while discharging itscontents. Fig. IV is a horizontal sectional view taken approximately onthe line IV IV, Fig. I. Fig. V is an enlarged vertical sectional viewtaken approximately on the line V V, Fig. I.

Our improved box properly consists of an outer housing and a'dump-boxwithin the housing, the outer housing being rectangular in form andcomprising the fixed sides 1 1, the top 2, bottom 3, and rear wall 4:.Located on top of the housing is a receptacle 5, provided with asuitable top 6, in the front wall of which receptacle 5 is arranged agravitydoor 7. This receptacle 5 is designed to be used as a repositoryfor papers, packages, and large pieces of mail-matter.

The inner dump-box comprises a pair of side walls 8, the lower ends ofwhich are formed at an angle, (see Fig. 1H,) together with the rear wall9 and top 10. The box so constructed is arranged to swing in the outerhousing, there being a hinged rod 11 passed through the upper forwardcorners 'of the side walls 1 of the housing and the side walls 8 of thedump-box. The inner dump-box is of such width that when it is positionedwithin the outer housing slight spaces are formed between the adjacentside walls of the housing and inclosed box, and occupying the lowerportions of the spaces thus formed is a dumpchute having side walls 12,pivotally held at their rear ends to the rear lower corners of the sidewalls 8 of the dump-box and having a bottom 13, adapted to serve also asa bottom for the dump-box when in closed position, and as the side wallsof said box are, as previously stated, formed on an angle the bottom ofthe dump-chute necessarily lies at an incline, as seen in Fig. III. Astrip 14 .is fixed to the inner face of the lower end of the rear wall 9of the dump-box, said strip serving to close the interstices between thelower edge of said rear wall and the rear end of the inclinedchute-bottom 13.

A sectional plate, which will now be described, serves as a front'w'allor door for both the outer housing and the incloseddump-box. The mainportion of said plate comprises a rectangular section 15, to the insidefaces of the side edges of which are fixed the forward edges of the sidewalls 8 of the dump-box, the said section entirely closing the lowerportion of said box at the front. The side edges of said section 15extend beyond the side walls 8 of the dump-box and are adapted to lieagainst the forward edges of the side walls 1 of the outer housing whenthe mail-box is closed. The lower edge of this section 15 extendsdownwardly far enough to engage directly against the front edge of thebottom 3 of the outer housing when the inner box is swung inwardly toits normal position, and fixed to and extending outwardly from thecenter of the lower portion of said section 15 is a staple 16, overwhich a hasp 17, hingedto the bottom 3, is adapted to pass. A pad lock18 or other suitable locking device is inserted through the staple 16after the hasp is located thereon in order to securely lock the dump-boxwithin the outer housing.

A rectangular plate 19, that closes the upper portion of the housing anddump-box, is provided with a pair of rearwardly-projecting wings 20,which extend into the spaces between the side walls 1 and 8 of thehousing and dump-box, and said wings 20 are hinged at their forwardupper corners upon the rod 11, previously mentioned. The rear ends ofthese wings 20 are widened or weighted in any suitable manner in orderthat they, t0- gether with the plate 19, may swing downwardly into theposition shown by dotted lines, Fig. II, when the plate 19 is releasedfrom the plate l5.

Formed through the upper portion of the plate 19 is ahorizontally-arranged slit 21, that is normally covered by agravity-door 22, hinged beneath a hood 23, secured to the front face ofthe plate 19 immediately above said slit, and said gravity-door normallyrests upon side projections 24 and a connecting projection 25, thatserve as a chute for letters deposited through the slit 21. The loweredge of the plate 19 is beveled inwardly and upwardly to fit acorresponding bevel upon the top edge of the plate 15 for the purpose ofproviding a tight joint between these parts, and hinged to the center ofthe upper edge of said plate 15 is a hasp 26, that engages-a staple 27,carried by the plate 19, and by means of a padlock or other suitablelocking device the plate 19 may be secured to the plate 15.

A transversely-positioned rod 28, having upturned ends, is fixed to theunder side of the housing-bottom 3. This rod is designed to serve as asocket for the reception of a portion of a frame of a mail-collectingsack, which is made the subject-matt=er of a separate application forpatent.

When our improved mail-box is in use, the plate 19 is locked to theplate 15 and the plate 15 is in turn locked to the outer housing. Shoulda person desire to mail a paper or package, the gravity-door? is raisedand the article is deposited within the receptacle 5. Should it bedesired to mail a letter, thegravity-door22 is raised and-the letter isdeposited through the slit 21.

While boxes of the present construction are in use, it has been thepractice for carriers or others who collect mail-matterfrom the boxes inlarge buildings to deposit their collections in the street-boxes, to bein turn collected by the wagon-collectors. Where this form of collectionis carried out, much time is lost in delivering the mail-mattercollected into the street-boxes, for the reason that but few letters canbe passed through the letter-box door at a time, and to obviate thisloss of time we have arranged the swinging plate 19, which when unlockedswings outwardly, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. II, thus forminga wide opening, through which a large number of letters may be passed ata time and the box again closed.

when it is desired to discharge all of the wagon-collector or otherperson whose duty it is to collect the mail-matter from the streetboxes,the padlock 18 or other locking device is detached from the staple 16,and after the hasp 17 has been swung downwardly away from the lower edgeof the plate 15 the inner dump-box will, by gravity and by reason of theweight of the accumulation of mail-matter, which is greatest at thefront of the box, swing upon the rod 11, moving outwardlyinto theposition seen in Fig. III. chute 12 13 will swing downwardly, therebyopening the bottom of the dump-box, and all of the mail-matter containedby such box is instantly discharged into the receptacle held to receiveit. This discharge of the mail-matter is accomplished in a very fewseconds and is a very important feature where quick collections aredesired, and as the mail is dropped downwardly from the bottom of thebox into the receiving-receptacle it is not exposed to the liability ofbecoming wet where collections are being made during inclement weather.

Our improved mail-box is. simple in con struction and operation, and theparts are so arranged and connected together that the liability of theirbecoming out of order is reduced to a minimum.

We claim as our invention-.

1. In a device of the class described, the com bination of a housing, aswinging dump-box in said housing, and a movable chute or door mountedin the lower end of the housing adapted to move outwardly on the outwardmovement of said dump-box, substantiallyas described.

2. In a device of the class described,the com= bination of a housing, aswinging dump-box mounted in said housing, and a chute or door hinged tosaid dump-box, substantially as de scribed.

3. In a device of the class described,the combination of a housing, adump-box provided with walls forming the mail-receptacle mov ablymounted in said housing to assume a dumping position and a door movablyconnected to said dumpbox, substantially as specified.

at. In a device of the class described,,ahous ing, a dump-box hingedwithin said housing, and a chute hinged to the rear portion of the lowerend of said dump-box, substantially as specified.

ing, a dump-box hinged therein, a front plate normally closing the frontof the housing and the box, a hinged door mounted in said plate, andweighted wings extending rearwardly from the ends of said hinged door,substantially as specified.

6. In a device of the class described, a housing, a dump-box hingedtherein, a plate normally closing the front of the housing andbox,

' a hinged door mounted in said plate,weighted contents of the box intothe bag or box of the In sodoingthe 5. In a device of the classdescribed, ahous- Wings extending rearwardly from the ends of saidhinged door, and a chute hinged to the rear lower ends of the dump-box,substantially as specified.

7. In a mail-box, the combination with an open-front housing, of adump-box hinged in said housing so that its lower end will swingoutwardly therefrom, and a chute hinged at its rear end to the lowerrear end of the dumpbox, substantially as specified.

8. In a mail-box, the combination with an open-front housing, of adump-box hinged in said housing so that its lower end will swingoutwardly therefrom,a plate fixed to the lower front edges of the sidesof the dump-box, a door-plate hinged to the front upper corners of thedump-box, and a chute hinged at its rear end to the lower rear end ofthe dump box, substantially as specified.

9. In a mail-box, the combination with an open-front housing, of adump-box hinged in said housing, a plate fixed to the lower front edgesof the sides of the dump-box, a plate hinged in the upper portion of thefront of the dump-box,weighted wings extending rear wardly from thesides of the hinged plate, and a chute hinged at its rear end to thelower rear end of the dump-box, substantially as specified.

BENJAMINE F. BROOKMEYER. ALBERT O. BROOKMEYER. In presence oi:'-

E. S. KNIGHT; N. V. ALEXANDER.

